• Recipients are selected based on GPA, ACT score and academic rigor
Damien Burgess, a senior at Star Valley High School and the son of J.R. and Katey Burgess, has been selected as a 2025 recipient of the Trustees’ Scholars Award from the University of Wyoming. One hundred outstanding graduating seniors were selected from the 970 resident students who applied to UW in 2025.
As UW’s premier academic scholarship, the Trustees’ Scholar Award offers resident high school seniors four years (eight consecutive semesters) of tuition, fees, room and board, (providing the student lives in university housing and chooses a meal plan).
After candidates are evaluated based on academic excellence, including exceptional GPA and ACT scores, as well as a rigorous academic transcript, they must complete an interview with the selection panel. For this year’s award winners, the average GPA was 3.97, and the average ACT score was 32.
Damien is thrilled to accept the offer, and plans to begin his UW studies in the fall of 2027 after serving a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to the Mexico, Merida Mission, which he will enter on July 14, 2025.
With the attitude that work is opportunity, Damien has thrown himself into many opportunities. Rigorous courses that he has completed in his high school studies which set him up to win the Trustees’ Scholar Award included AP Calculus, Honors Biology, Physics and Anatomy, to name a few, but the ingredients that made the most impact, Damien feels, are the leadership opportunities that he has embraced during his time at SVHS.
Devoting much of his educational experience to athletics, Damien spent the fall of his senior year playing center on the football offensive line and serving as a captain on the football team. He spent the winter serving as a senior captain on the wrestling team, where he represented the 175 -pound weight division and placed fifth in the state.
Additionally, he served on the leadership team with the Marching Braves, as a brass section leader in marching technique and held an office in the SVHS chapter of the National Honor Society.
His secret is maintaining focus on his distant goals. “Take the football team for example,” he shared in an interview with SVI Media last week. “We have been able to win [three state championships in a row] because we put in the work early. I have been able to have success later in my high school career because I put in the work early. I always kept that in mind. If I put in the work early, I’ll have success later.”
His micro habits include carefully governing his sleep schedule and rising early for workouts and team practices. “I think that’s helped me a lot.” Submitting assignments and studying for tests is also a top priority. “I make sure that I’m on top of all my assignments in school and I don’t let myself get behind. I know if you get behind it’s hard to catch up, so I stay on top of my assignments. I make sure I study and I’m ready for tests and I’m ready for assignments.”
Each evening, to fit in all these things that are important to him, Damien reviews his schedule for the next day, ensuring that he gives time to everything that is critical for him to achieve his goals and maintain his habits. “I always make sure that I work in everything that I need to accomplish the next day and figure out when I want to do it, whether it’s after practice or before school or between classes. I just make sure that I always know what I need to get done for the day and when I am going to do it.”
With the help of his parents and grandparents, Damien started developing his skills and habits at a young age. “My parents have been so great. They have always been supportive of everything that I do. Every single wrestling practice and tournament I went to, my dad drove me and encouraged me to go to optional practices to help me get better. My mom has always been supportive and helped me pack my lunches and stuff and always texted me asking me how I was doing. My parents have been super supportive with everything I’ve done and I’m extremely grateful.”
“To quote Coach (McKay) Young, ‘Personnel success isn’t just about the person, it’s about all the people that are helping that person and have helped that person.’ It’s really been the whole community that’s helped me to get where I am, so I’m really grateful for the community. For all the coaches I’ve had and all the people who have supported me throughout my life.”
Damien’s goals continue to expand as he considers the opportunities that await him over the next six years. He’ll learn to speak Spanish and share beliefs that are dear to him with the people of Mexico. Though he’s not entirely certain, he is considering a Civil Engineering program when he gets to UW, and he would also like to play with the UW marching band, Western Thunder. “That would be another great opportunity!”
